


A Curious Cat

by The_Consulting_Werewolf



Series: the Fic Fest fics [8]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Blood and Gore, Character Death, M/M, Mild Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-04 10:24:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21196130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Consulting_Werewolf/pseuds/The_Consulting_Werewolf
Summary: There is something stalking the city, killing people and leaving souvenirs on Yifan's backdoor.





	A Curious Cat

**Author's Note:**

> **Horror#: D11**   
**Title: A Curious Cat**   
**Pairing: Krisho**   
**Rating: NC17**   
**TW: Gore**

For almost all of human history, animals had held an important part in culture, religion and social life. But above them all, cats seem to have a special place. Egyptian revered them and worshipped feline-headed Bastet, defender of Lower Egypt and the sun god. The Japanese have their Nekomata and Bakeneko, where both are yokai (supernatural beings in Japanese folklore). So if you ever see a cat with two tails in Japan, you might have come across a Nekomata. Then there are the Scottish stories of the Cat sìth, who is a large, black cat with a white spot on their chest who steals people’s soul.

Benevolent or evil, cats have had a special place in human minds, and even now, the internet revers them the same. Can Yifan spend one day on Instagram without a cat video showing up? Probably not. He doesn’t hate cats per se—it is just he is more of a dog person.

However, he is presently preoccupied with cats because right now, opposite to the bus stand, there is a large grey tabby looking right at him with its startling yellow eyes. He has seen this cat before; they are both regulars at this bus stop but he has never truly _ seen _him.

It might be a boy and maybe a little old. There are scars across his face and his fur is especially matted under his belly, as if he had been rolling in mud. Yifan wonders…

…he wonders if this cat is the one leaving him dead sparrows on his window.

First, some context. Yifan lives alone on a ground floor flat in one of the nicest neighbourhoods in the city. With autumn around, the area looks even more magical with the red and yellow trees, the mellow sunshine and the sweet smell of roasted barley tea and sweet hotcakes permeating the air around him. Yifan loves this season. But unlike the warmer months, he keeps his windows tightly shut to not let any cold air come in. So, for the last ten days, he had been waking to strange things on his window.

This window looks into the sparse backyard (that has become somewhat of outdoor storage for him), which looks into a narrow alley. The building next to it is the 24/7 supermarket (Irene of the popular girl group is found to be asking Yifan if he wants some soju all the time—Yifan wonders if they will ever put that advertisement down, it is strange to see her every time he is washing dishes). So, in a way, no one much comes across this narrow road. Perfect for a cat, he supposes.

The first day it was a dead gecko, so he thought nothing of it and buried it in his backyard. Then five days later, it was a crow. Again, Yifan quietly buried it. But then this morning, he received two sparrows. He is confused. He has learned that cats usually leave dead things at doorsteps as a sign that they like you and want to help you hunt and fend for yourself or something like that. But first, Yifan doesn’t own a cat, has never seen any around him, and two, if the cat is leaving “presents”, shouldn’t it show itself as well?

Lost in his thoughts, he doesn’t realise that he is not alone anymore. He turns around when he hears a low sniffle and looks around to find his rather cute new neighbour blowing his nose. Kim Junmyeon is a newcomer to the city and is two years younger than Yifan. He has moved into the other ground floor apartment beside his and Yifan even helped Junmyeon move in ten days ago. He hasn’t much talked to Junmyeon, but he knows the other is a columnist and has family down south, mostly works from home and perhaps sleeps with his windows open (Yifan has heard music from his unit often).

Yifan grins, “Morning.”

Junmyeon smiles, removing his napkin, “Morning mister Wu.”

Yifan chuckles, shaking his head, “Didn’t I tell you to call me Yifan?” The guy smiles sheepishly before scrunching his whole face and sneezing into his tissue. _ Cute _, Yifan thinks. “You caught a cold, eh? This is the time of the season after all.”

Junmyeon smiles again as he wipes his nose. “That and my horrible immune system, I suppose.”

Yifan smiles, tilting his head to the side. “You should sleep with your windows closed then.” Junmyeon widens his eyes, his surprise evident in his eyes. Yifan raises his hands and explains, “No, I don’t snoop around other people’s houses. It’s just when the night gets really quiet, I hear music from your unit.”

Junmyeon’s lips (_ rather pink and pretty _, Yifan thinks) form an O and then his lips part into a coy smile, “I actually do all my meal prep at night, so if it bothers you, let me know. I will keep my windows closed.”

Yifan shakes his head, waving his hands as he says, “No, no I don’t mind. You have good taste in music by the way. A lot of eighties rock, eh?”

Junmyeon grins again, literally beaming in a way but their conversation is cut short when a loud honk from a distance startles them both. Junmyeon mutters, sounding the tiniest bit dejected, “Oh, that’s my bus…”

Yifan suddenly gets inspired and he says as he gets to his feet, following Junmyeon who had done the same. He scratches his neck as he says, “Well, today’s Friday, would you be free for dinner?”

The bus is almost here, so the time is limited but Junmyeon’s cheeks redden a little as he nods, “Sure, I’d like that.”

The bus is here and as the door whooshes open, Junmyeon steps on it and then Yifan shouts, “It’s a date then!”

The bus doors close and Junmyeon turns around, his face flushed as he smiles. _ Too cute _, Yifan thinks as Junmyeon waves at him. Yifan smiles to himself, patting his back that he managed to ask his cute neighbour out finally. He did develop somewhat of a crush when he helped Junmyeon set up in his apartment. He just sits there, for a while, just basking in the moment. A date, he finally has a date!

His bus finally arrives and within some minutes, he is walking into his office. Yifan works as a data engineer at a multinational company, so he’s usually stuck to one place and has collected friends within the department itself. Among them, Kim Jongin and Zhang Yixing are his closest friends. He has known Yixing since college while Jongin and he became close during the younger man’s internship. As soon as Yifan walks into his office with a massive smile, Yixing and Jongin jump on him. Yixing asks, “So, what gives? Why are you so happy this early in the morning, hm?”

Yifan grins, “I asked that cute neighbour of mine out and he said yes.”

Jongin makes a small cheering noise and smiles, “Look at you, hyung, you’re gonna get laid finally.”

Yifan reaches for Jongin’s ear and the latter dodges. Yixing shakes his head at their antics and chuckles, “So, when is this date?”

Yifan returns to his chair and plops down. Yixing’s question just reminded him that needs to get a reservation at his favourite restaurant or else he would have to wait in a very long line. He answers Yixing as he taps on his phone, “Tonight.”

Yixing whistles, “You move fast.”

Yifan only grins in response. He already had Junmyeon’s number, so he shares the restaurant’s details with Junmyeon, who responds within seconds with two thumbs up and a smiley face. Yifan feels a fluttery feeling in his stomach, strangely eager for this dinner. 

_ “Ow!” a muffled voice surprises Yifan, who was trying to weed his backyard. He notices that the unit beside him has some activity going on. He peeks around in curiosity and finds a truck, a car, and a man hunched over the steps, clutching his hand. Yifan rushes over, thinking the man must have hurt himself. _

_ The newcomer looks up as Yifan runs over the gravel and the latter has to take a moment to just remember how to breathe because he is fairly certain he has never seen someone this attractive in his whole life. He has a sweet, round face with big, almond-shaped eyes, strong eyebrows, thin yet plush pink lips, and dark, unruly hair covering his eyebrows. Yifan swallows his awe and asks, “Are you alright?” _

_ The man shakes his head a little. He chuckles, “Got my hand stuck in a door.” _

_ Yifan widens his eyes, “Oh no, here, come with me, let me help.” When the man looks a little wary, Yifan adds with a smile, “Don’t worry, my name is Yifan and I live next door actually.” _

_ The man looks at the unit beside his and he nods, smiling now. Yifan takes him inside through the backdoor and grabs the cooling pack he always keeps in his freezer (he hurt his lower back once and he hasn’t been the same since, so his friends often joke how he is a mini apothecary himself with heating and cooling pads, band-aids and painkillers everywhere in his house). He puts it on the man’s hand, who suddenly blushes and says, “Oh dear, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Kim Junmyeon!” _

_ Yifan smiles and Junmyeon smiles right back. Yifan’s heart might have skipped a beat at that shy smile but he didn’t think too much about it. Then, Junmyeon returned the favour by baking Yifan cookies—which were delicious—and another shy smile. Then, they kept running into each other when they left for work or came back home from work and some dozen more shy smiles later, Yifan _ knows _ he is crushing, and he is crushing hard. _

So, when hours later, Yifan is waiting for Junmyeon at the restaurant, he is now kind of nervous. Junmyeon isn’t late by any means, in fact, Yifan is here early. The restaurant he chose is a charming little place with outdoor seating and bare stone floors with white walls covered with creeping vines. Fairy lights hang over his head and it is not so cold, so he thinks the atmosphere is quite romantic. 

“Yifan?” A shy, faint voice calls his name and he turns his head around and finds Junmyeon waiting by the gate. Yifan checks the time and sees Junmyeon is exactly on time. Junmyeon breaks out into a huge smile and walks up to the table. Yifan stands up to pull a chair out and Junmyeon giggles lightly as he sits down, “I wasn’t too late, was I?”

Yifan shakes his head as he sits back down. “No, no, I was here way before time.” He looks at Junmyeon properly and his messy hair, askew glasses and slightly flushed face are endearing. “You didn’t have trouble locating this place, did you?”

Junmyeon grins, “Well, I have never been to this part of the city but the map helped and the bright blue door.”

They order their foods and drinks next and the conversation flows smoothly. Junmyeon talks about his family down south and Yifan talks about his in China. Junmyeon says as he bites into a canape, “You must miss them.”

Yifan shrugs, “I do, but it’s okay. I try to get as many leaves I can get to visit them at least once a year.”

Junmyeon juts his lower lip out, nodding, “That’s nice.”

Yifan sips his white wine. “You said your family owns a farm?”

Junmyeon nods, smiling, “Yes! A fruit orchard really, but my mother also runs an animal rescue and rehab centre.”

The conversation moves onto their occupations next. Yifan considers his work fairly boring but then Junmyeon says where he actually works at. Junmyeon grins, smiling a little, “I work at the police station.”

Yifan widens his eyes, “You’re a police officer?”

Junmyeon shakes his head, chuckling, “No, I work in radio, collecting calls, connecting stations to squad cars and such.”

Yifan is still fascinated by it all. “Wow, that’s cool.”

Junmyeon nods, “Challenging too at times, because you know when people are stressed they don’t often make sense and I am always worried I might send help at the wrong place.”

“Has that ever happened?”

“Noy yet, but I have seen it happen to one of my colleagues. They weren’t blamed, of course, because the caller was hysterical but it does make one think it was their fault.”

Junmyeon had his hand resting atop the table, so Yifan braves it and reaches forward, covering Junmyeon’s hand with his. He mutters, “I’m sure it won’t.” Junmyeon bows his head and blushes hard, but there’s a small smile playing on the corner of his lips. Junmyeon glances up and Yifan unconsciously starts rubbing his thumb over Junmyeon’s skin. Their gazes lock and when Junmyeon parts his lips, Yifan can’t look away. He mumbles, “You have lovely lips, you know.”

Junmyeon covers his mouth, blushing again. Yifan leans closer and whispers, “And you’re really cute when you’re blushing.” Junmyeon feels mighty brave himself perhaps because he laces his fingers through Yifan’s and squeezes a little. Junmyeon bites down his lips and Yifan sees it—the desire he feels swimming in Junmyeon’s eyes. Needless to say, they skip dessert.

Yifan wakes up to an empty bed the next morning. He touches the space beside and still finds it warm, so he deems Junmyeon must have woken up only a few seconds before. Then, he hears a low humming, muffled through the walls but Yifan smiles when he realises it must be Junmyeon—has to be since they tumbled into Yifan’s apartment last night in a mess of limbs and kisses.

Last night was great, really great and Yifan hopes they get more chances, maybe make something out of this but that also depends on Junmyeon and what he wants. Now, Yifan wonders, as he gets to his feet and locates his clothes (he only bothers wearing his boxer since he can’t find his shirt or sweater), just what is the waiting period for one to ask their crush to become their boyfriend? 

He ambles into the kitchen and what he sees makes his whole body warm. Junmyeon is wearing _ his _sweater and just his own boxers. Junmyeon looks up from the coffee machine and smiles, “Good morning, I hope you don’t mind.”

Yifan shakes his head and comes closer, his eyes zooming on the marks he had left on Junmyeon’s neck. He kisses one mark right under Junmyeon’s ear and says, “I don’t mind, not at all.”

Yifan sees Junmyeon’s neck and face flushes a deep red again. _ Gosh, why must he be so cute _, Yifan thinks. He puts his hands on Junmyeon’s waist and pulls him closer, nosing along the side of his neck, taking in the lingering cologne Junmyeon wore and the familiar scent of the laundry soap Yifan uses on his sheets. He feels Junmyeon grabbing his shoulders and balling his fist, his body shaking a little as he takes a deep breath. Yifan wants to kiss those lips again and he does. Junmyeon sighs as he sinks his fingers into Yifan’s hair, tilting his head and parting his lips, wanting the kiss to go deeper. 

Yifan obliges, licking into Junmyeon’s mouth and the latter makes a faint purring sound (Yifan had noticed it last night as well—the tiny, mewling sounds Junmyeon would make if he likes something Yifan is doing to him). He nudges Junmyeon with his hips and pushes him against the counter. Junmyeon hops up on it and wraps his legs around Yifan’s waist. Yifan moves one hand down and brushes his fingers on the inside of Junmyeon’s thighs, feeling the rising goosebumps followed by the shuddering moan. 

Yifan is sucking on Junmyeon’s lip when the coffee machine beeps and startles them both. Junmyeon erupts into giggles and pushes his head into Yifan’s neck. Yifan chuckles along as well as he noses into Junmyeon’s hair. He separates himself from Junmyeon with great effort and pours them two cups of coffee. Junmyeon remains perched atop the counter, preferring his coffee with milk and no sugar, blowing at the steam rising from the cup. Yifan takes a moment to look at Junmyeon again, at his sleep-mussed hair and his red lips, swollen due to the kissing. 

Junmyeon perhaps feels the staring, so he looks up and asks, “What?”

Yifan bites his lip and says, “You.” Junmyeon, as Yifan expects, blushes deeply and tries to act nonchalant as he sips from his cup. Yifan chuckles as he suddenly gets an idea, “Hey, if you’re free today, we can get lunch, or go somewhere fun.”

Junmyeon acts coy but Yifan can sense his eagerness when his eyes widen slightly and a small smile settles on the edge of his lips. “A second date already?”

Yifan chuckles and comes closer. He takes Junmyeon’s free hand and kisses every knuckle as he mutters, “Well, I’m an impatient man,” he touches the red marks on Junmyeon’s thighs and smirks, “As you might already know.” Junmyeon takes a deep, shuddering breath but he nods his head, agreeing to the date. Yifan is sure he feels butterflies in his stomach again.

On a Tuesday morning, the whole city wakes up to a truly sensational piece of news. Someone found a mauled body of a man in his twenties on the banks of the river. Yifan is in the office cafeteria when the news breaks and one of the employees turns up the volume. A rather handsome newscaster says, “Today, at five in the morning, a jogger found the body of a student by the Han river, his body mauled beyond recognition. Authorities identified him through his college ID. Cause of death was severe injuries caused by what we hear is a possible animal attack. That’s we all have to go on, for now, we will update you as the events unfold.”

Yixing looks at the television and frowns, “A wild animal attack in the middle of Seoul?”

Jongin speaks through a mouthful of noodles, “Wild animal? Are they sure?”

Yifan was reading the news on his phone, scowling. He mutters, “This happened a kilometre away from my home…”

Yixing and Jongin both hear him and look at him with wide eyes. Jongin asks, “What do you mean?”

Yifan presses his lips together, shaking his head. “I don’t know Jongin. This is very weird, I can confirm with surety that there are no wild animals around my place.”

Yixing shrugs his shoulders, “Maybe it is just some psychopath but the police don’t want to freak us out yet.”

Jongin juts his lower lip out and nods. He slowly says, “But hyung, be careful, yeah? This is why I had said not to buy a ground-floor flat!”

Yifan rolls his eyes and pockets his phone as he says, “First of all, it’s a gated community, second of all, it is the safest area, and third of all, the body was found near, yes, but it doesn’t mean that the murder happened there, did it? Maybe the killer wanted to dump the body in the water.”

Yixing exhales loudly, exasperated but he knows he can’t argue with Yifan on this. So, he decides to change the subject. He picks up his coffee cup again and grins, “By the way, how’s your boyfriend?”

Jongin too forgets his worries for a moment and grins, beaming at Yifan, who feels his face warming as he tugs at his collar, saying, “He’s okay but uh, he’s not my boyfriend, not yet, I mean.”

Jongin leans over the table, his eyes gleaming, “We want to see him, please? We have to see who is this creature that finally managed to snag the great Wu Yifan’s attention?”

Yifan narrows his eyes at Jongin but accepts the request and pulls out his phone back out and opens Kakao to show his friends Junmyeon’s profile. In the picture, Junmyeon is in a pale pink turtleneck and dark jeans, his hair all fluffed up as he smiles at the camera. Yixing gasps and Jongin widens his eyes when they look at Junmyeon, and it is Yixing who quips, “Are you telling me this cute guy likes you? You?”

Jongin nods, chuckling, “But Yixing hyung, isn’t he just Yifan hyung’s type? All short and fluffy? Remember the time we found him squishing a Jigglypuff plushie to sleep at Zitao’s party?”

Yifan knows his face is a deep red as he remembers _ that _incident. Zitao—Jongin’s boyfriend—had thrown a party and Yifan just wanted to away from the noise, so he had taken refuge in a spare room. Zitao likes anime a lot, so it was not shocking to find so many Pokemon plushies strewn all over the house. So what if Yifan fell asleep snuggling the rather large, round and soft Jigglypuff plushie? But he has to agree, Junmyeon does look like one in that sweater.

Yifan snatches his phone back then and glowers at his friends, who just laugh at him. They return to eat their lunch and chat about other things next. Jongin and Zitao are moving to a new place soon, so that takes up much of the conversation. Lunch hour breaks soon and they each head back to their respective departments. Yifan, though, is restless. He has invited Junmyeon over for dinner today and he is worried he might not finish everything before six tonight. Also, he’s planning to ask Junmyeon to be his boyfriend tonight, so he’s excited for that.

It has been a week since they started ‘dating’. Yifan can confirm with a hundred per cent certainty that he is enamoured, completely taken by Junmyeon and every little thing he does. Yifan thinks maybe he is moving too fast but Junmyeon is like no one he has ever met before. The way Junmyeon yawns when he wakes up, the way he holds his coffee cup in the morning, the way he wears soft, worn-down sweaters, the way he smiles—Yifan can go on forever. He wants this, he really wants this so much.

Hours later, Yifan is sweating in his kitchen, garnishing the soup when the bell rings. Junmyeon is also very punctual, so he is right on the dot at eight-thirty. Yifan hastily wipes the sweat off his eyebrows and rushes towards the door. He opens it and Junmyeon smiles, but it was a tired smile. Yifan frowns a little, “Hey, you okay?”

Junmyeon slumps a little, his shoulders dropping as he moves to bury his face into Yifan’s chest. Yifan dies a little at that adorable gesture but he knows that that is just Junmyeon seeking comfort, so he worries what might have happened to make Junmyeon like this. He wraps his own arms around Junmyeon and manoeuvres them inside the house. When they are on the foyer, Yifan rubs Junmyeon’s back and whispers, “Hey, wanna talk about it?”

Junmyeon just rubs his head on Yifan’s neck and hums, which Yifan realises is an answer in positive. Yifan cups Junmyeon’s nape and tugs a little so Junmyeon can look at him directly. Junmyeon has his lips upturned but he attempts a smile as he says, “Just a horrible workday, really.”

Junmyeon moves on to take off his shoes and continues, “You heard about the murder close by, right? So, since they said it was an animal attack, we have been receiving nonstop calls about eye witness reports that are mostly fake.” He puts his shoes on the rack and slips into the extra slippers Junmyeon brought over from his house. “Some say they saw a cheetah, some say a tiger, some even said it could have been a werewolf.”

Yifan bursts out laughing, “Werewolf?”

Junmyeon can’t help laughing out loud himself. “I know, right?”

Yifan drags Junmyeon inside and the latter smiles when he smells the food. He grins, “Is that your famous chicken noodle soup?” When Yifan nods, Junmyeon steps up to him and rises on his toes to plant a small kiss on Yifan’s lips. “You remembered!”

Yifan grins, feeling his heart do weird flippy floppy things in his heart at that smile. Junmyeon had been feeling a little under the weather recently, so Yifan had offered to make his mother’s famous noodle soup. However, he looks slightly better today—the healthy peach flush is back in his cheeks. Yifan can’t help himself as he leans down and kisses Junmyeon properly. 

Junmyeon sighs when Yifan breaks the kiss and smiles, all big and happy and Yifan is sure his insides liquefy a little. His own personal sun—gosh, he is falling and he is falling hard.

Another week passes and Yifan can say Junmyeon and he are now exclusive. So, it is disheartening when Junmyeon calls him an hour before Yifan is heading to the club to say, _ “Hey, Fan, I am so sorry, I have to work another shift, at least until a replacement can be found. I can’t come, I know you were very excited for me to meet your friends, but I can’t. Better luck next time!” _Yifan is lowkey crushed. But he understands, there was another murder or animal attack but this time the man survived with serious injuries and he confirmed it was an animal but police are certain it’s the shock because a wild animal in an urban city is unthinkable, especially when the description of a “giant, hulking cat with green eyes and barbs on his tail” reads like some creature out of a fantasy or horror story.

The city isn’t as alarmed as it should be and Yifan is fine with that. Today is the fourth Friday of the month, which is Yixing, Jongin and Yifan’s monthly night out. Sometimes, Yixing’s wife joins them, sometimes Jongin’s boyfriend. So, this time, Yifan was excited to bring Junmyeon along, but maybe this month is not it. 

Yixing chooses the pub this time and since it is a new pub that they have never been to, they get lost two times. When they finally get there, Yixing is forced to pay for their first round of whiskey. A just punishment if you asked Yifan. As they drink their whiskey, Yifan notices Jongin’s nails shining under the light. He grabs Jongin’s wrist and laughs, “Did you visit your niece recently?”

Jongin laughs as he looks down at his hand. “Yeah, yeah I did!”

Yifan chuckles; Jongin adores and dotes on his nephew and niece, and often when he visits them, he returns with nail polish on his nails, courtesy of his niece. The kid had chosen shimmery purple-pink nail polish and it does look quite nice. Yixing sighs, “I wish my uncle was as nice. You know what he did every time we met?” Yixing puts down his glass, straightens his back and makes his voice heavier as he says, “Yixing, why are you not going to medical school?”

Jongin and Yifan laugh, and they end up talking about their families. The night deepens and the drinks pour on. By the time it is midnight, Yifan is the drunkest among them all. Since Jongin lived closer to Yifan, he volunteers to drop Yifan home. He isn’t very sober himself but he is soberer than Yifan, so Yixing lets them go on. 

Jongin hails them a taxi and it takes some forty minutes before they get to Yifan’s home. Jongin isn’t very clearheaded, otherwise, he would have noticed the shadow that moved behind them. He is grasping for Yifan’s keys in his pocket and Yifan drapes himself over Jongin, mumbling incoherent things. Jongin replies as incoherently and he manages to unlock the door. They both trip on the foyer and their limbs are tangled and that makes them both end up laughing out loud.

Yifan sighs, as he tries to make the world stop moving, “Jongin, Jongin, I might marry him if he let me.”

Jongin wonders who Yifan is talking about for half a second, and when he does, he grins, “Aw, hyung, who knew you had it in you?”

Yifan pouts, punching Jongin’s shoulder and missing him entirely. “But what if he doesn’t want to?”

Jongin clicks his tongue, “I am sure he would. I mean I would if I wasn’t in love with Tao.”

Yifan chuckles, when he remembers something, “Hey, remember when you had a crush on me?”

Jongin groans, “Worst one month of my life.”

They end up laughing again and Yifan invites Jongin to stay over, which the latter agrees because the floor is comfortable and he really doesn’t want to move. Yifan does drag him till the couch and deposits him there before he himself crashes in his bedroom. 

Meanwhile, a giant shadow passes over the kitchen window and paws softly tread over the grass. 

Monday morning starts with a sudden fall shower. Yifan wakes up to it, feeling greatly confused because it almost never rains this far into October. But the grey clouds and the cold winds would be foreshadowing what is coming next, and he didn’t know that, not yet. For now, he is blissfully unaware, wrapped around Junmyeon, who is still asleep. He had a late-night shift yesterday and came home at 10.00 PM, so Yifan is unwilling to wake him up. Plus, a sleeping Junmyeon is so, _ so _adorable with his messy black hair, pouty lips and puffy cheeks. If Yifan had his way, he would keep staring at a sleeping Junmyeon forever, but he has things to do and a job to go to.

With great difficulty, he unwraps himself and slowly shifts, careful to not wake Junmyeon up. It doesn’t work and Junmyeon wakes up anyway. He opens his eyes slowly and blinks before yawning and then smiles as he rasps out, “Morning.”

Yifan smiles back as his hand reaches for Junmyeon’s head, softly caressing Junmyeon’s hair. “Morning.”

Junmyeon sits up and the blanket falls down to his waist, exposing his skin, “You going to work now?”

Yifan nods but he pulls the blanket up and wraps it around Junmyeon’s shoulders, grinning, “But you can stay for as long as you want, okay? Sleep some more.” He kisses Junmyeon’s forehead and says, “Stay, okay?”

Junmyeon blushes lightly as he bows his head. Yifan finally gets off the bed after one last kiss on Junmyeon’s temple. By the time he steps out of the bathroom, Junmyeon has fallen back asleep. He smiles, knowing Junmyeon is rested and happy makes him glad too. He isn’t the kind to go mushy over such mundane things but this is Junmyeon and he knows he is falling in love with him and it gave him butterflies the size of houses in his stomach.

He was in a jubilant mood en route from his house to work but then, when he stepped into work, he realised something was wrong. The atmosphere is tense and quiet like someone is stretching the tension like a rubber band. And then Yixing comes to Yifan, his cheeks stained with dried tears. Before Yifan can ask anything, Yixing breaks down, “Jongin, Jongin’s dead Yifan.”

Yifan thinks he heard wrong and then he thinks Yixing is joking but his wide, dilated eyes and his pale complexion tells him otherwise. He shakes his head, gulping, “What, what do you mean?”

“Here, they are reporting it now,” an employee says and turns on the volume on his desktop. Everyone then hears the reporter say, “Last night, the wild cat of Seoul struck again. This time, we have a witness who confirmed it was a large cat of some kind. The witness, Huang Zitao and his boyfriend, were on a walk by the river when the creature attacked. Mister Huang says that the cat hardly cared for him and went straight for his boyfriend, who we regret to inform, passed away an hour ago, succumbing to his injuries.”

Yixing’s voice shakes as he says, “Zitao called me two hours ago and told me what had happened last night. He knew Jongin was not going to make it. The thing had attacked Zitao too, but it killed Jongin, ripped through his abdomen.”

Yifan feels his knees wobbling and he crashes to the floor. His head spins and he sees black dots dancing in his vision. Jongin, their sweet little Jongin..._ is dead _? 

The rest of the day passes by in a blur. Yifan and Yixing are excused and are given a week off immediately by their boss. The office shuts down for the day as well and most of them head to the hospital. The cries of Jongin’s sisters and beloved nephews and niece breaks Yifan’s heart some more. He gets to see Jongin’s body, covered from the neck down and he can’t stop the bile rising his throat when he sees the bloodstains on the white sheet. He runs for the nearest bathroom and throws up his breakfast. 

He is on his knees inside a stall when he hears the door open and then hears rushed footsteps coming towards him. He is about to tell Yixing to leave him alone for some time but it is not Yixing who says, “Fan!”

Yifan, with a massive effort, twists his head around and finds Junmyeon looking down at him. He is much too surprised by his boyfriend’s sudden appearance but he can’t quite express it. Junmyeon doesn’t ask as he flushes the toilet and leans down to cup Yifan’s face. He mutters, “Hey, I came as soon as I heard.”

Junmyeon pulls Yifan towards the basin and Yifan splashes water on his face and cleans his mouth. Junmyeon keeps rubbing his back in small, soothing circles. He says, “I saw the news online and then I called up the station when I recognised Zitao’s name. When they told me it was Kim Jongin, I knew it had to be your friend.” His brows furrow as he says, “I’m so sorry.”

Yifan just turns around and throws his arms around Junmyeon, tugging him close. Junmyeon moves in easily and puts his arms around Yifan’s waist. Yifan trembles a little before a choked sob escapes and he breaks down in Junmyeon’s arms. Junmyeon just holds him tighter and keeps rubbing his back. Yifan mumbles when he pauses to take a breath, “I’m grateful you are here, Junmyeon.”

Junmyeon smiles, leaning back as he cups Yifan’s face. He says, “Where else would I be? I’ll always be there when you need me.” He traces the corner of Yifan’s lips and he is blinking fast when he mumbles, “I love you, I think.”

Yifan feels his heart clench, like someone is squeezing it so hard that he can’t even breathe. He can’t find the words, his tongue twists but he pulls Junmyeon back into his arms and sighs, “Gosh, I thought _ I _was an idiot for falling so hard so fast.”

Junmyeon sighs into Yifan’s shoulder as well, rubbing his head. “That’s okay. Some things are just meant to be, I suppose.” He steps back and laces his fingers through Yifan’s, smiling, “Now, let’s go, okay? They are waiting for you.”

On the day of the funeral, Yifan wakes up late in the afternoon to a strange thing. Outside on the step leading to the backyard lies a long, tanned thing, which on closer look turns out to be a forefinger. A human forefinger, to be exact. Yifan gasps and crouches down, his eyes wide with fear as he sees the bite marks at the root, the bone splintering out like someone with quite the jaw-power smashed through it. However, when he finally notices the top half—the fingernail—he falls on his bottom and his heart starts pounding.

He recognises the shimmery purple polish. He scrambles to his feet and grabs his phone, calling Junmyeon, who answers it chirpily, “Hey, Fan, did you wake up now? My early leave has been approved, I’ll be—”

Yifan whispers, “Myeon, Myeon, there’s a finger on my backdoor.”

Junmyeon pauses and Yifan can imagine him frowning. “A finger? What do you mean?”

“Jongin’s finger, Myeon.”

Junmyeon gasps and Yifan can hear him shuffling. He says, “Okay, okay breathe. I’ll be right there and I’ve already forwarded the alert to the nearest station. Just, stay still and don’t touch _ anything _.”

Yifan nods even though he knows Junmyeon can’t see him. Junmyeon disconnects the phone and Yifan finds himself unable to move when he looks back at the finger again. _ Why _? Why would anyone do this? Is it really a wild animal? Or is it human? Yifan’s head hurts, so he pulls his knees to his chest and rests his head on it, trying to calm his heart but it’s not working. Someone left his best friend’s finger on his backdoor and he doesn’t know how he’s supposed to feel right now.

Ten minutes later, a police car arrives. Yifan is still seated on the kitchen floor, but he moves when he hears the doorbell and someone says, “Mister Wu? This is detective inspector Im Yoona, I need you to open the door.”

Yifan finds his knees shaking horribly as he opens the door. The detective gives him a wry, tight smile as she flashes her badge and says, “I know Junmyeon, so I already know, he told me everything. Now, can you take me to the, uh, evidence?”

Yifan nods and gestures at Yoona to follow him. Yoona crouches down on the step and groans, “Shit, it _ is _ a finger.” A forensic team had followed Yoona inside, so she orders one of them to bag the evidence. She straightens up and says, “So, I’m not on this wild animal case but Junmyeon briefed me a little and said the last victim, Kim Jongin, was your friend. Are you sure this is his finger?”

Yifan nods; he had been standing by the counter, leaning against it since his legs didn’t want to support his weight anymore. “He, he would let his niece paint his nails, I know that colour.”

Yoona nods and her phone beeps. She pulls it out of her jacket pocket and her eyes widen when she reads the message. She sighs, looking at Yifan, “Well, mister Wu, you’re right. I had called the funeral home prior to coming here and they confirmed that Jongin is missing a finger. They say his hand was in pristine condition till last night.”

Yifan gasps and he feels the air getting punched out of his lungs. He slides down the counter and kneels on the floor. He mutters, “But why?”

Yoona crosses her arms and looks at the forensic team going through Yifan’s backyard. She says, “That’s what we are here to find out.”

A forensic enters the kitchen and says in a low, surprised voice as they browse through the gallery on their camera, “Ma’am, we found paw prints on the dirt by the wall. They are, well, they’re pretty big.”

Yoona looks at the picture and frowns. Yifan is itching to see it too but he can’t form the words because if what the forensic woman says is true, then the wild animal was close to him and that strikes terror straight to his heart. Yoona finally speaks, “Okay, get this to an expert. Maybe, we do have an escaped big cat on our hands.”

“Yifan?”

Yifan turns his head around and finds Junmyeon walking towards him. He doesn’t trust himself to stand but he tries and before he can say or do anything, Junmyeon crashes into him and hugs him tightly. His voice quivers as he says, “Oh, Fan, I’m so sorry.”

Yifan holds back his sob and buries his face into Junmyeon’s neck, closing his eyes and takes deep, deep breaths. Someone clears their throat and Junmyeon peels himself away from Yifan and looks at Yoona, smiling a little, “Thanks for coming over so fast.”

“I’d never refuse you, Junmyeon,” Yoona chuckles.

Junmyeon keeps his arm around Yifan as he asks, “So, what do you think?”

Yoona gives Junmyeon a brief account and Yifan only half-listens to it. However, when Junmyeon gasps, he pays attention. “But, is it really an animal? I mean, here, in Seoul?”

Yoona looks grim as she says, “I don’t know Junmyeon. I mean, what animal attacks humans and just eats their liver?”

Yifan frowns at that sentence and he is about to ask Yoona what that means when Junmyeon squeezes Yifan’s waist, a silent urge to keep quiet. Yifan understands Junmyeon knows something the public doesn’t. 

Another thirty minutes later, Yoona and her team leave. Jongin’s funeral is cancelled, which Yifan saw coming. Junmyeon makes Yifan a cup of tea and coaxes him to the couch in the living room. Yifan puts his head on Junmyeon’s lap and murmurs, “You don’t need to stay, you know. I mean, I don’t want you to lose your job.”

Junmyeon chuckles as he cards his fingers through Yifan’s hair. “I don’t mind. And neither does my boss because I am on a double shift this Saturday anyway.”

“Oh,” Yifan mumbles. He turns to his side and buries his face into Junmyeon’s stomach. The material of the sweater Junmyeon wears is soft and he is himself so warm. Yifan seeks comfort and Junmyeon always gives it, ten times more than Yifan can ask for. As Junmyeon inhales and exhales, Yifan can feel it. He quietly asks, “What did Yoona mean then?”

Junmyeon’s hand stills on Yifan’s hair. He takes a deep breath before saying, “The police have held back this information from the public, but this cat, or whatever, is attacking people to only eat their liver.”

Yifan looks up, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “The liver? Why?”

Junmyeon shrugs as he says, “A friend in toxicology told me the animal could be sick or maybe is going into hibernation soon so they are loading on the nutrients. Livers have a lot of vitamin B, apparently?”

Yifan kind of feels disgusted by it all but he does find the humour in the situation, so he smirks, “Look at you, all this gore doesn’t bother you much, does it?”

Junmyeon smiles softly but Yifan sees something like profound darkness in the former’s eyes and he wonders briefly just who Junmyeon truly is but the look is gone and his brown eyes are kind again. He starts running his fingers through Yifan’s hair again and says, “Well, I’ve never been on any scene but I’ve had to talk to a woman once who had been stabbed.” He looks away for a second and murmurs, “That was the first time I cried at work, to be honest.”

Yifan slowly sits up and throws his arms around Junmyeon’s neck. He kisses under Junmyeon’s ear and says, “Sorry I asked.”

Junmyeon shakes his head. “Don’t worry, I’m alright.” He adjusts himself so he is now on Yifan’s lap. He picks up the still-warm cup of tea and places it in Yifan’s hand as he says, “But I’m worried about you. I will stay here with you tonight, okay?”

Yifan sips the tea and nods. He did want to ask Junmyeon to stay, so he is kind of grateful that Junmyeon offered. His heart does get all mushy when he realises how Junmyeon has started to understand him even when he doesn’t speak. No one has quite interpreted his silences so well. He puts his head on Junmyeon’s shoulder and quietly mumbles into the soft wool of the sweater, “I love you.”

Junmyeon just laces their fingers together and squeezes. He nuzzles into Yifan’s neck and smiles, “Finish your tea. I’ll make lunch, okay?”

Yifan can see Junmyeon’s affection clear as day in his eyes and he feels all warm and nice now. He sips his tea again and grins, “Can I have some of that caramel custard? I have all the ingredients…”

Junmyeon laughs before cupping Yifan’s face and kissing him. He is literally the sun personified when he says, “Of course you can.”

After two deaths and one attack, the whole country was waking up to the terror now stalking Seoul’s streets. Some speculated it was some exotic animal perhaps escaped from someone’s secret, illegal zoo or maybe it came from North Korea, another tactic from them to spook South Koreans. Some online forums are also calling it a werecat, a cat man, and so on. Yifan’s discovery of Jongin’s finger was thankfully kept out and he is glad about that. He didn’t need people with cameras camping outside his house. Junmyeon has been sharing horror stories of the media swarming around the police station, making leaving or entering the station difficult.

There were discussions galore about a curfew to make sure any other attacks could be avoided but so far, no one seemed that bothered about it. However, a week after Jongin’s death, Yifan wakes up to another _ gift _. 

This time, it is a whole hand.

Yifan woke up and he was in his kitchen, making his coffee when for some reason, he looked at the door. Now, this door has frosted glass, so Yifan could see a blurred shape. He had thought it was nothing, hoping it was nothing but when he opened the door to a large, tanned, bejewelled hand, Yifan couldn’t even make a noise. 

Yifan doesn’t remember calling the police but they came within ten minutes and it is Yoona again this time. However, unlike the last time, Yoona doesn’t look sympathetic. Yifan notes the curious and suspicious gaze she spares him as the forensic tags the hand. There haven’t been any death announced yet but if the owner of this hand is identified, it might lead to discovering the dead body. Yoona is doubtful of Yifan, he knows and he gets even more convinced when she politely asks him to accompany him to the police station, saying it is just routine procedure. He saw that coming, so he quickly types a message to Junmyeon. He does think it is perhaps a bit under-the-belt to tell his boyfriend who works in the police HQ, but Junmyeon seems to well-liked by his colleagues, so maybe Junmyeon can do something to alleviate Yoona’s doubts. Or make sure nobody actually arrests him for something he knows nothing about. 

_ There’s another hand on my backdoor. I think Yoona is arresting me. _

Yifan pockets his phone and silently gets on the back seat of Yoona’s patrol car. A forensic team member hitches a ride with them and she says, “So, I found paw prints again, at the same place.” She turns her head around to grin at Yifan, “You have heard about cats bringing dead things to show you they like them, right?”

Yifan presses his lips and looks out of the window. Yoona scolds the woman, “Momo, can you not?” Momo bows her head and murmurs an apology. Yoona explains, “I’m sorry, miss Hirai is new to our team.”

Yifan doesn’t comment; the ride to the police station takes almost an hour, thanks to the morning rush. They take him to the main headquarters in Migeun-dong. The dismal eight-storeyed building makes Yifan’s heart to skip a beat in fear. He knows he didn’t do anything but being taken to a police station this early in the morning is surreal and stressful.

No one bats an eyelid when he walks behind Yoona but Yifan feels like every eye is on him and they will tell everyone he knows that he walked into a police station this morning. Yoona takes him to her office, which she shares with another detective, who isn’t in yet. Yoona gestures at Yifan to sit on the other chair, she offers him water even. Yifan can tell she is laying on the kindness thick, perhaps, to lull him into a false sense of security. 

Yoona sits down and asks, “So, we found the same footprints and after contacting many experts, they think it is from the cat family and some it can be a panther or a cheetah.” She scoffs, “But, there are no escaped big cats running around Seoul and neither can a big cat like that hide in our city.” She taps her fingernails on the desk’s surface and frowns, “Did you hear or see anything last night, perhaps?”

Yifan sips the water offered to him and he shakes his head. He is a sound sleeper and since Junmyeon pulled another night shift, he had no reason to stay up either. Yoona presses her lips together and nods her head slowly. She opens her mouth to say something but then someone knocks on her door and she looks the tiniest bit annoyed as she says, “Come in.”

Yifan twists his body around, hoping to the high heavens his rescue is here, and he is. Junmyeon looks into the room with a small smile, “Hey, I heard you had my boyfriend hostage here.”

Yoona sends Junmyeon a tight-lipped smile and glances at Yifan for a moment, which he doesn’t miss. Can’t hold him here without a reason if a witness shows up, can she? Yoona and Junmyeon share some pleasantries and then Junmyeon makes some excuse about some prior engagement he has with Yifan, so they leave. Yifan doesn’t bid goodbye to Yoona as he is still internally bristling about the whole situation.

When they are in Junmyeon’s car, the younger man cups Yifan’s face and pouts, “I can’t believe she did this.” His eyebrows furrow and Yifan notices a somewhat feral glint in them as he whispers, “How dare she…”

Yifan smiles a little and covers Junmyeon’s hands with his. He leans forward and kisses Junmyeon’s nose. That seems to mollify Junmyeon, who smiles wider before slotting his lips against Yifan’s. The kiss is soft, gentle, a silent reminder that Junmyeon is here for Yifan, no matter what. Yifan sighs and throws his arms around Junmyeon, thinking how easy this is, and maybe it is too fast, but he has never felt like this for anyone. 

Junmyeon breaks the kiss and Yifan feels something melting and flooding and heating his whole body up when he sees the other smile at him, his lips swollen and red like cherries. Yifan swallows, his voice turning deeper as he says, “Let’s go home.”

Junmyeon widens his eyes, noticing how Yifan’s expression changes to one of want, his desire pooling in his eyes, and he nods. He says nothing more as he starts the car and makes their way home. Whose home? Neither of them is sure but Yifan has his hand on Junmyeon’s thigh as the latter drives, so it doesn’t really matter. Yifan watches Junmyeon trapping his lower lip under his teeth and his hand on the wheel shakes a little as he slowly strokes the inside seam of Junmyeon’s jeans. Maybe, it is Yifan’s imagination but has Junmyeon’s canines always looked this sharp?

Yifan takes his moment to gaze at his boyfriend’s beautiful side profile. Even with his sharp jawline, he has soft cheeks and Yifan loves this juxtaposition. Yet, there are some things he is slowly becoming aware of…

The sudden darkness in Junmyeon’s eyes, his strangely sharp teeth, the way he sleeps with his window open, and how the path behind their units closes at a dead end but the police didn’t find any footprints leading away from Yifan’s house, only towards it. How come Junmyeon never heard anything either? How come this “cat” only leaves behind body parts at Yifan’s backdoor?

But maybe Yifan is just being silly, and he doesn’t need to worry, now that they are in his home and he has Junmyeon pressed against the wall and his teeth sucking a mark on Junmyeon’s neck. 

A moment later, Yifan is on his back on the couch in the living room, Junmyeon sitting pretty atop him, his chest bare and marked some more, while his hand curl around Yifan’s leaking cock. He makes a tight ring with his thumb and forefinger and Yifan can’t help but jerk his hips up. Junmyeon leans down to lick a warm stripe under Yifan’s cock and the latter can only take a deep, shaky breath. Soon, his cock is engulfed in the velvet warmth of Junmyeon’s mouth and he can only curse out in pleasure, pleasure burning through his veins white hot. 

Junmyeon’s lovely mouth works in tandem with his hand, holding onto the part he can’t take in. Yifan doesn’t last too long, can’t last too long when Junmyeon knows exactly how to work his tongue and fingers. So, he comes, his body spasming and Junmyeon takes it all in. Yifan’s mind is a little muddled, but when Junmyeon licks his lips and smiles down at him, he thinks he sees a flash of green in Junmyeon’s eyes. It is a trick of the light because his post-sex haze is setting in. He reaches for Junmyeon but the latter grabs his wrist and kisses under his jaw, whispering, “It’s okay, you had a bad day, you rest. I will make you lunch when you wake up.” 

Yifan can only hum in agreement. He shuts his eyes and feels Junmyeon placing a blanket over his body. He feels a soft kiss on his temple and footsteps slowly inching from him. His boyfriend, in short, is amazing. Whatever was he even thinking?

Yifan wakes up feeling a little bit worried. It has been a few days since Yoona took him to the police station and the hand hasn’t been identified yet. But the thing causing him stress this morning is how sick Junmyeon was last night.

Junmyeon had a morning shift, so Yifan picked him up from work and they had plans for dinner, but Junmyeon somehow had caught a cold and he kept sneezing and coughing. Dinner plans had to be cancelled but Junmyeon also wouldn’t let Yifan tend to him for the fear of infecting him, so he headed home and forced Yifan to stay in his apartment. Yifan, right now, is getting ready to go check on Junmyeon.

As he walks to the unit beside his, he realises that Junmyeon’s car is missing, which means he has already left for office. Yifan frowns, putting his hands on his hips, shaking his head thinking how Junmyeon is crazy for going to work while sick. He decides to go back to his unit from the back and then he sees two things.

One, the back window is partly open, and two, there is blood on the window sill. Yifan inches closer and peers down at the dried blood. It is a bloody fingerprint actually and it confuses Yifan a lot. He looks into the kitchen but he finds no evidence of any more blood. What happened? Did Junmyeon cut himself?

He reminds to call his boyfriend as he continues walking towards his unit. Suddenly, he halts when he glances up at his backdoor. His lips part in a muted gasp when he recognises the thing lying by his backdoor. It is a hand, _ again _.

It is pale and slender, and Yifan is no expert, but it could belong to a woman. He is about to rush inside, to call Yoona when he remembers how bad this looks for him. He crouches on the ground, his head cradled in his hands as he thinks and thinks. What can he do? He can’t go to the police, they just might officially arrest him. 

Then, he remembers what that forensic said, and then he remembers the dead animals he had buried in his backyard. _ A cat, huh? _Does that mean that this cat likes Yifan? He looks at the hand and his stomach turns at the thought of even touching it. But he has to, so he inhales deeply and gets to his feet. 

Thank goodness he lives in a dead-end lane with only that Korean girl group member’s advertisement as his witness. He grabs a shovel and starts digging. He doesn’t know how time passes but as the sweat rolls down his back and rivulets down his face, the hole is now at his knees and he deems it the right depth to bury the hand. He picks the hand up with the shovel only and the bile rushes up to his oesophagus when the wrist flops and the fingers shift every time he moves. He drops the thing in the hole and starts covering it up.

A couple of hours have passed since and his boss only called once. Yifan explained he’d be late, which his boss understood. Both Yifan and Yixing have had a tough time dealing with Jongin’s death but Yixing doesn’t know about Jongin’s finger on his backdoor and the police hadn’t informed the media about it, thank goodness. 

In another hour, he is clean and sitting in his office, staring blankly at his computer. The numbers on his excel sheet don’t register—what as he doing again? He can’t remember, he is still thinking the hole in his backyard with a human body part in it. A hand, he buried a hand. He groans and sinks into his chair, throwing his head back. _ What has he done? _

He pushes his palms into his eyes and groans again. Maybe he shouldn’t have done that but he got scared. He wasn’t thinking straight, but right now, he knows that he can’t just go back and dig out the hand because no matter how much he tries, forensics will know that he had buried it and then taken it out. 

His phone rings and he stretches to pick it up. The clouds in his head part when he sees the name on the screen. He slides it up and smiles, “Hey, Myeon.”

Junmyeon says, “Hi there, I’m sure you came looking for me in the morning.”

Yifan juts his lip out and he recalls the blood on the windowsill. He struggles with himself for half a moment before sighing, “I was worried. How are you?”

“I woke up feeling just fine, so I left for work. I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Okay,” Yifan hums and rolls his eyes. “But will you be free for lunch? I don’t know, I wanted to see you.”

Junmyeon chuckles, “Alright, I will let you know, okay?”

“Okay, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

When lunch hour rolls in, they meet at a small noodles shop by Yifan’s office. Yifan looks at Junmyeon and smiles, his heart all warm and fuzzy as he Junmyeon’s cheeks puff out as he eats his noodles. Junmyeon looks up, his cheeks flushed from the steam as he swallows his food and asks, “What?”

Yifan shakes his head. “You look better. You looked so pale yesterday, but now, you look like your beautiful self as always.”

The blush on Junmyeon’s cheeks deepens and he rolls his eyes, bouncing off Yifan’s compliments with it. Yifan just picks up Junmyeon’s free hand and kisses a knuckle. Junmyeon responds by widening his eyes and gasping, “Fan!” Yifan can only chuckle in response. His doubts about Junmyeon’s involvement in anything disperses completely.

Nine days later, late at night, perhaps somewhere after midnight, Yifan wakes up to a noise. It sounds like footsteps, human ones, crunching on dead leaves. He wakes up and ambles up to his kitchen window and to his surprise, he sees Junmyeon getting into his house from the back window—the window he always keeps open.

Yifan hadn’t turned on all the lights, so he pulls the curtains across and wonders. He walks to the backdoor and his hand trembles when he touches the doorknob. The cool metal stabs into his skin as grasps it. He twists the knob and the door gently creaks open, he smells it first. The scent of fresh blood.

Yifan feels his knees wanting to give away. He looks down and he takes a deep breath when he sees the pinkie finger on the step. He claps a hand over his mouth and squeezes his eyes shut as he tells himself to breathe, to align his thoughts in order. He needs to make a decision, he has to do _ something _. He looks over at Junmyeon’s dark unit and he knows he can’t tell anyone, so he makes up his mind.

He will bury this one too.

As he digs, he recalls some things.

_ Cats usually leave gifts for people they like. _

_ Livers are usually good for immunity. _

_ Junmyeon gets sick often but he bounces back just as quickly. _

So, he will bury this one nice and deep.

And then, Yifan buries another one eight days later. The next day he goes out on a date with his boyfriend and they have fun all night long, even end up at his apartment and have so much sex that Junmyeon whines about his thighs hurting the next day. Yifan can only kiss Junmyeon’s cute nose scrunch away.

He doesn’t understand a lot of things but he knows one thing. He loves Junmyeon too much to ever bring any harm to him.

Ten days after the last finger he buried, Yifan finds a forefinger on the kitchen backdoor one morning. He remembers how sick Junmyeon had been for the last few days, so it makes sense. Yifan takes a deep breath and rolls up his sweater sleeves. He grabs his shovel, the one he keeps tucked under his kitchen sink nowadays. He goes outside and looks over his backyard. He had chosen to use the spots where he overturned the dirt to plant seeds, so if anyone asks him, he can tell them he is just preparing his garden for spring.

There is one spot under the fence he hasn’t touched, so he starts digging there. He is maybe a foot in when he hears a woman’s voice, “Mister Wu?”

At first, Yifan thinks the soju poster talks to him but then he realises the voice came from behind him. He whips his head around and sees the detective standing. She must have taken the path that leads from the front of the house to the back and as she looks at the shovel, she glances back at the kitchen door and her eye widen. Her hand inches towards her gun as she says, “We had found three more bodies with missing parts and we thought that maybe the animal ate them, but looking at this now, can I safely assume you’ve been burying them?”

Yifan sees her grabbing the gun and his grip tightens on his shovel. Bu then, something surprising happens. Something big and furry jumps on Yoona. She screams, Yifan drops the shovel and takes a step back, gaping at the black animal, who is bigger than any animal Yifan has seen, or any cat for that matter. Yoona makes one last scream but then it gets replaced by the loud, squelching noise of teeth ripping through skin and bones. Yifan watches as the beast pulls out an organ that he thinks could be the liver and then the beast _ eats _it.

The cat has an interesting tail with a barb at the end and there are bony bumps all across its spine. But then, his feasting ends and the beast turns his head around, the emerald eyes gleaming. For some strange reason, Yifan feels no fear and even the animal’s eyes hold no anger towards him. Instead, both Yifan and the animal take a step towards each other. The thing licks its bloody nose as Yifan whispers, his hand reaching out, “Junmyeon?”

The animal just comes closer and licks Yifan’s hand, purring softly. Well, looks like Yifan will need to dig a bigger hole now. 

**Author's Note:**

> yes, this is finished LMAO


End file.
